Page 58 of The SongBird's Love

She pulled it back down right away. Eden needed to take a deep breath. This was just... unbearable to see. Loir’s legs didn’t look like legs. She had thought he might refuse to move because he was ankylosed from staying in that chair for so long, but she was wrong. Loir simply wasn’t able to walk at all. Whatever had happened to his legs wasn’t natural. It wasn’t an accident or a simple scar. What she had seen underneath wasn’t even bearable to look at.

“You... you were t-tortured?” she whispered.

Loir smiled, tilting his head.

“I told you,” he whispered back, “no running away for me, Kitty...”

That sentence sunk deeply into Eden’s heart. Loir wasn’t willing to be taken by the Italians; he simply had no choice. He couldn’t run away, and Eden had literally brought them here. She knew nothing about his past, but she knew he had been hiding alone in this basement for as long as she knew him. Hiding from who or what, that was a mystery. But it probably had a lot to do with his body’s state...

Eden tried to think fast; however, there was no satisfying solution, no matter how hard she tried to think about it. Loir’s legs couldn’t carry him anywhere, and dangerous people were probably looking for him. Even more dangerous than the Italian, most likely. She hated this, but... she had to admit, they really were cornered. It would be foolish to try and run away again. She wouldn’t be able to do anything without a partner either and, obviously, Loir wasn’t going anywhere.

“...Fine,” she mumbled, standing back up.

No one had been waiting for her to agree, but as soon as she said that, the largest and biggest guy came forward to carry Loir in his arms. The hacker blushed and put his very skinny arms around the guy’s neck.

“Oh, it’s my first time being carried like a princess! What’s your name, cutie pie?”

“I don’t have to tell you!” protested the man, pissed.

“Really? Oh, that’s too bad. I guess I’ll call you Margherita, then.”

“What the hell?!”

Eden smirked. Although he had no fighting skills, Loir was a mastermind at pissing people off. Whether he liked it or not, the newly-named Margherita had to carry him out of the garage. Quickly, that place was back to being completely empty again. Eden had never realized how small it actually was until all of Loir’s mess was taken out and the Italians themselves left. To her surprise, only Dante stayed behind, still smoking his cigarette and clearly waiting for her.

A long silence followed as Eden was having a hard time making her decision. It was hard to take that step.

“...I still hate you,” she hissed.

“For offering you this opportunity?” retorted Dante. “I see nothing but favorable conditions for you.”

“I told you I don’t work for anyone. Even if I had to, you’re the last one on my list.”

Dante crushed his cigarette under his shoe slowly.

“It’s alright,” he said. “I’ll give you what you need. What you want. You may not like my vision or being tied down, but—”

“You think you can give me what I want?” retorted Eden.

The glare she sent back to him spoke volumes. Her hazel eyes were gorgeous, but at this very moment, she was using them to kill him with a deadly gaze. She finally grabbed her pup, swung her backpack onto her back, and walked up to him with that furious expression in her eyes.

“You don’t have the slightest idea what I want,” she hissed.

“I’m all ears.”

“Really? Then give me my brother back.”

“...Any information I need to know first?”

Eden chuckled bitterly.

“Yes. The previous Tiger killed him, eight years ago. Shot him dead in the streets, right in front of me. You think you can do anything about that?”

Without letting him answer, Eden stepped out of the garage. In the alley, the black Italian cars were all lined up and, as expected, some of Dante’s henchmen were waiting, guns and rifles in hand and watching the perimeter. The most luxurious car was parked right in front of her, a door opening into a leather back seat. Eden wondered which car Loir had been taken to, but she knew he would have screamed or something if they had done anything to him. Almost happy she was wearing shabby clothes, Eden got into the car, with one last glare at the men outside. She had no intent to wait for Dante. She took a seat, letting Bullet settle on her lap and dropping her bag at her feet. Right away, she heard a happy dog’s little bark.

“Beer!” she exclaimed as the little pup’s head popped up from the front seat.

To her surprise, the pup was looking perfectly fine and happy. The two little pup siblings happily barked at each other, running on the little floor space of the car to reunite. The driver, who turned out to be Rolf, glanced at her through the car’s rearview mirror.